Inside the Marni at H&M launch

As Marni at H&M went on sale today, Faye Young went along to meet the dedicated followers of fashion queueing for a slice of the action.

BY Faye Young |
08 March 2012

Two happy shoppers snapping up the entire Marni at H&M collection this morning. Photo: Getty

When the doors of H&M's flagship Regent Street store in London opened at 9.10 this morning, die-hard Marni fans rushed in to pick up a piece from the hotly anticipated Marni at H&M range. The crowd of youthful, ultra-stylish shoppers reflected the cool models in the Sofia Coppola directed video teaser for the collection.

It was hardly the mania of the preceeding H&M collaboration with Versace that hit the rails in November, but that pleased those in the queue this morning. One woman, Paulina Kwasnik, was first in line at 3.15am. "I'm a huge Marni fan so the opportunity to get some of the collaboration with H&M is great - I've actually got a few Marni items so these will add to the collection. I've set aside £500 to spend." When asked if there was anything in particular she had her eye on, she responded: "Anything: it's Marni!"

The collection attracted a niche, civilised and enthused crowd. One man, Remi Martini, described himself as a "Collaboration Addict - I love capsule collections so whenever there's an opportunity like this I have to be a part of it." Remi, of Italian descent, said his family have been a fan of the brand since its conception in the early 1990s. He wanted to buy a few key items on a budget of £200 - "maybe a shirt, a parka, and the scarves: they are truly beautiful," he gushed whilst pouring over the look-book.

Another fan of the capsule collection, Alberto Esteban, is a collaboration expert - having splurged at Commes des Garcons, Viktor and Rolf and the Lanvin collaborations with H&M. The busiest, most chaotic collaboration he experienced was Commes des Garcons, but he didn't appear disappointed by the lack of mayhem today.

Inside the shop, however, it was a different story - one fashion photographer who was there for the fun and buzz came out laughing, "It's like a zoo in there; people are throwing themselves at the clothes. I feel sorry for the staff."

With only 10 minutes designated for each shopper, Paulina was in and out in eight and came out beaming, having spent her entire budget. She was carrying three bags full of wonderful printed dresses and her personal favourite purchase, the blue spotty coat. Given the successes of the previous H&M Collaborations, there will be many happy shoppers on Oxford Street today.